Display-frame for cards.



E. MILNER.

DISPLAY FRAME FOR CARDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY a. 1909.

Patented Feb. 15, 1910.

Inventor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR MILNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DISPLAY-FRAME FOR CARDS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR MiLNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond Hill, in the borough of Queens, city of New York, county of Queens, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Display-I*rames for Cards, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to display frames for cards, and more particularly to a type of passepartout frames.

The main object of the invention is to provide a passepartout frame having forwardly projected and inclosed sides which will give a shadow box effect to the frame, the

back of said box forming a mat, while permitting the insertion of a card therein and its removal therefrom, all of the parts entering into the frame being permanently seamed together by an edge binder.

A further object is to provide a passepartout frame of this character which may be inexpensively produced and which will be so constructed and arranged as to permit the convenient insertion and adjustment of a picture or other display card therein, the front retaining back constituting a sight mat, and the rear retaining back being en tirely covered by the front mat and the contained display card.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings :I*igure 1 is a front elevation of a display frame for cards embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Heretofore frames for displaying cards have been made in the form of passepartouts by the use of a back board having a card bearing directly thereon or on a flat mat positioned between the backboard and the front glass; but in this type of frame there is a loss of artistic effect through the direct contact of the card with the glass. In my present invention I aim to avoid this flat elf feet by offsetting the glass relative to the card support, the overhung portions of the sides of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 8, 1909.

Patented Feb. 15, 1910.

Serial No. 494,842.

the frame not only serving to distance the glass from the forward mat but also throw such shadows upon the interior of the frame as will give added softness in the tone and have all the advantages and artistic effects of a shadow box. To accomplish this result, with a structure which may be so economically produced as to meet with commercial success, it is necessary to use inexpensive material, and so construct it that the parts may be rapidly and inexpensively prepared and assembled.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, I have shown at a an ordinary piece of mat board having a sight at I) cut in the usual manner. In the drawings this sight is shown as rectangular, but it is apparent that it may be made oval or round as desired, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. The edges of this front mat are turned at right angles to the portions thereof about the sight opening 7) as illustrated at a (Z c j", the amount of the edge being turned being about i; to of an inch. Before turning, the edge is squared up so that the edges of the oppositely turned portions 0 (Z c f will be on the same plane.

The mat body (A constitutes the front or for\\'ard back part of the frame, and the inwardly projected edges thereof about the sight opening serve not only as a mat for the picture or other card mounted therein, but also to cover the edges of said card or picture, and distance it from the front glass.

To the rear of the mat body a. is a piece of ordinary card board 9 lying against the mat board a and covering the sight opening Z) so as to protect and conceal the back of the card and at the same time hold itperfectly flat within the sight I), and against the inwardly projecting edges of the mat board a.

The rear back g has a slot or elongated opening 9' adjacent to one edge thereof for the purpose of inserting and removing cards from the frame, and a central opening within the sight 7), constituting a thumb or finger opening, or both, for the purpose of adjusting the card relative to the sight after it has been inserted in the frame through the slot g. In addition to the slots g 9 this back piece carries the hanging rings g g, arranged respectively on the short and on the long edge of the frame in order to permit the frame to be hung in a manner to adapt it to either wide or long fixtures. The slot g is wider than the edge of the sight opening 6 parallel therew th, so as to permit the mat about said opening to overlap the edges of the cards passed through said opening.

Resting upon the forward edge of the sides 0 (Z 6 is a light of glass it of substantially the same dimensions as the figure formed by the said upwardly turned edges when the corners thereof are closed. Extending about the outer face of the sides 0 (Z 6 7", and the outer edges of the rear back 9 and the lightof glass h, is an ordinary passepartout strip 2' the edges of which are folded upon the rear back board 9 and the light of glass it, and secured thereto in the usual and well known manner in passepartout work. It will be observed, however, that in addition to its function as a seam edge binder for the glass and back board, the passepartout strip 2' has the additional function of a binder for the box formed by the up turned edges 0 d e f, the adhesive on said strip through its adhesion to said upturned edges holding the box to form, forming neat corners, and preventing any of the said sides being forced inwardly in a manner to prove unsightly from the front of the box, or permit the mutilation of the binding strip by reason of the give of the side of the mat board.

In assembling, the mat board a is first cut and scored so as to insure the correct turning of the edges 0 cl 6 7, the sight opening 6 being cut therein before said edges are turned. The edges are then so turned as to partially break the fibers of the mat board to remove the resiliency therefrom without however, defacing the face of the board a in the angles formed between the inwardly projected portion thereof and the upturned sides. The rear back board is then cut to size and the openings 9 cut therein, the hanging rings g 9 being thereafter inserted and clamped thereto. When the parts are thus prepared, the back board is placed below the bottom of the box formed by the mat board a, the light of glass 72. resting upon the sides 0 (Z c f and flush with the outer surfaces thereof, and the binding strip 2' after being properly coated with the adhesive, is applied thereto in the ordinary I manner as in box making or in ordinary passepartout work. lVhen so assembled, the portion of the mat board a about the sight board 6 is always distanced from the light of glass it so as to secure that diffusion of light, and that mellowing about the edges of the mat board necessary to secure higher artistic values than could be secured by a fiat frame. In addition to this, a frame constructed as above has all the advantages of a frame adapted to have pictures interchangeably mounted therein. This frame is also inexpensive to produce, is neat in appearance and is reasonably durable in use.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a display frame for cards, comprising a mat board having a sight opening therein, and forwardly turned edges, a rear back where by the edges of a card will be held against the rear portion of said matboard, a transparent covering resting on said forwardly turned edges, and a binding strip passing about said forwardly turned edges and folded upon and secured adjacent to the edges of said transparent material, and to said rear back.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a display frame for cards, comprising a mat board having a sight opening therein, and forwardly turned edges, a rear back cover ing the back of said sight opening, whereby the edges of a card will be held against the rear portion of said mat board, said rear back havin an opening therein whereby cards may be inserted bet-ween it and said mat board, or removed from therebetwcen, hangers carried by said rear back, a trans parent covering resting on said forwardly turned edges, and a binding strip passing about said forwardly turned edges and fold ed upon and secured adjacent to the edges of said transparent material, and to said rear back.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed-my signature this 29th day of April, 1909, in the presence of two witnesses.

- EDGAR MILNER, Witnesses P. V. WENING, P. F. SONNEK. 

